Educating the “educated”

MESSAGE FROM THE MAN OUTSIDE AT 21 DAYS OF HUNGER STRIKE

This is the third letter addressed to Mr. Hammarberg.

People of the world,
Commissioner Hammarberg,
Representatives of the media and civil society,

Three weeks have gone by since I first started my hunger strike. The 21 days that I have gone without food have caused me far less distress than I would have thought possible. Were I a religious man I would say it is downright miraculous that I am not yet crawling on the floor with hunger pains, but hunger is truly absent. The only thing that hurts is the heartbreaking longing I feel for my children.

Although I have lost 17kg (c.37 pounds), or about18% of my initial body weight, I continue to feel strong and healthy and walk at least 10km a day. More importantly, my mind remains clear and focused.

Cravings have surfaced. France is after all second-to-none in its haute cuisine and wonderful aromas waft through the city of Strasbourg at all times of day and night. I find myself phantasizing about crusty baguettes and moist éclairs, succulent shawarmas and smelly cheese, coq au vin and foie gras, but my determination remains undaunted.

The only complaints are my deteriorating eyesight, light headaches and vertigo, and a few episodes of stabbing pain in the heart. Judging by the slowing rate of weight loss, it is clear that my body has reached a resistance point in that it seems unwilling to let go of the remaining fat, which I estimate to be enough to sustain me for another week without my body having to eat into muscle tissue. In other words, I am here to stay for a while yet. I have extended my return flight home to Canada by three more weeks to ensure that I carry this through and reach my objectives. They are: to compel the Council of Europe to condemn and shut down SAC, to free the media and civil society from the shackles of silence, and to get compensation for the young men and women who have been hurt.

SAC, once again, is the acronym I gave a covert programme of surveillance and censorship of students in universities, which originated in the UK, embodies neo-imperialist ambitions, has annihilated freedom of speech and conscience and threatens liberty itself. While it has multiple objectives, its ultimate and most covert goal is to ensure that only those individuals graduate from Europe‟s universities who respond to the social, political and economic indoctrination necessary to protect the New Global Order, which I define as corporate capitalism imposed on the world, from being challenged intellectually and politically.